All kinds of people ride The Canadian train. Some travel not only because they enjoy travelling by train, but because they don't like to fly. I spoke to a lady in her 50s who has travelled across Canada by train since she was a teenager.

Some of us work in jobs that are not always our only passion. The head of Radiation Dosimetry at the Bristol Royal Infirmary plays the mandolin. I had a conversation with him about it. I still don't know what Radiation Dosimetry is.

While in Manchester for a conference I stayed in Leeds. It's not too far from Manchester and there's a train that goes between the two before 11pm. I met an estate agent from Huddersfield on the Saturday night. He wanted me to keep him awake.

I met two Aussies on a train one night. They'd been to Bath and to Venice recently and were using London as a base while they explores Europe and beyond. One was a nursing student and the other was a special ed teacher.

In the evening from London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads, a Dutch guy who has been catering at a corporate event strikes up a conversation on the train with me. He's temping but used to be the general manager of a restaurant in Wimbledon.

On the Underground train to Heathrow, I talk to a comedian about the time he and his friend Dave Hill did a set at Sing Sing Penitentiary just North of New York. This is part of the Conversations on the Train series and part two of my conversations with Carl.

Carl was kind enough to let me ride out to Heathrow with him the morning after a show in London. I'd been to see him and Dave Hill doing a comedy tour of the National Gallery. We talked about many things, including the time he interviewed Kurt Vonnegut.

I travelled to York with David, who was studying for his PHD. He loves trains, but from a very academic standpoint. He has spent years researching how the railways were managed in the past. He also posted me a tube map from the 70s which I rather liked.